Abstract

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) belongs to the grass family Poaceae and is an ancient and important cereal grain crop. Whole grain products are recommended for healthy diets as being recognized sources of dietary fiber and antioxidant substances such as polyphenols and vitamin E. The current study was conducted to evaluate the antioxidant activity for 19 cultivars (Bahman, MB-82-12, Nosrat, Kavir, Torkman, Makoeei, Karoun, Valfajr, Reihane, Dasht, MB-42-4, Nik, Rihane-03, Sahra, Yosef, DD-10, Nimrooz, Fajr-30, Gorgan-4) of barely (Hordeum vulgare L) grain and their malts. The Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) method was used to evaluate this activity. The Range of antioxidant activity in barely grain was ranged between 0.31-1.01 mg/kg and in malt was ranged between 0.64-3.34 mg/kg. The average antioxidant activity was significantly higher in malt (1.584±0.596 mg/kg) compared to barely grain (0.633 ±0.221 mg/kg) p≤0.001. Results of the current study show that Nosrat cultivar had significant difference from other cultivars of barley. But in malt products, MB-82-12 cultivar had significant difference with other malt products and had higher antioxidant activity. Finally, we recommend that, if the goal is to select the most antioxidant activity of barely and malt products, we preferred to use Nosrat cultivar of barley and MB-82-12 malt.

Key words: Antioxidant, barley cultivars, malt, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP).